>>> i knew jack kennedy. jack kennedy was a friend of mine. >> senator, you're no jack kennedy. >> welcome back to "hardball," live from center college in danville, kentucky. what can we expect from joe biden tonight? democratic chris van hollen, he's been playing biden in the sparring matches. i have a whole list of things. will he bring out romney's positions an abortion and paul ryan's personhood, which criminalizes abortion. can biden deliver that, too? joining me right now is u.s. congressman chris van hollen who happens to be my congressman and my wife's, probably more importantly. and gentlemen, i'm going to start with you, sir, because you've been there. you know what we don't know. you know how prepared joe biden is. is he? >> he's ready to go. he's looking forward to tonight and he understands the stakes are high and he's looking forward to talking about the choices in this election. absolutely. >> it's faster, more punches are thrown. does he have a different role than he knows for running for pres